Toyota claimed its sixth 24 Hours of Le Mans victory over the weekend, tying Bentley to become the fourth winningest manufacturer in the race’s history. Until this year, however, Toyota never succeeded against any real competition. For 2026, it had to fend off challenges from Ferrari, Cadillac, BMW, Aston Martin, and Genesis.
Toyota has had a history of heartbreaks at Le Mans. In 2016, Toyota famously, after running 1-2 for much of the race, suffered a mechanical failure on the last lap and lost to Porsche. They were given a chance at redemption the following year, but a crossed signal blew that chance and Porsche won again.
When Stuttgart pulled the plug on its 919 Hybrid program at the end of 2017, Toyota was the only manufacturer left in the top-tier LMP1 class. Its 2018 victory felt hollow. Organizers tried their best to keep the grid full, allowing privateer teams to run non-hybrid cars in LMP1. They even tried to level the playing field with EoT (Equivalence of Technology) rules, which heavily restricted Toyota’s fuel flow, fuel capacity, and hybrid deployment while giving the privateers essentially zero restrictions. It didn’t matter. Toyota walked across the finish line without breaking a sweat in 2019 and 2020.
The new LMH (Le Mans Hypercar) class debuted in 2021, but Toyota still did not face any real competition in the first couple of years, Alpine, and Glickenhaus were the only other LMH-class entrants, but neither posed a real threat. Toyota once again cruised to victory in 2021 and 2022.
As soon as the heavyweights returned, Toyota no longer came out on top. Ferrari claimed the overall win 2023 and maintained a three-year streak even as Cadillac, Porsche, Peugeot, and Aston Martin arrived on the scene, pushing Toyota down to the number two spot on the podium. The only way Toyota could win, the naysayers claimed, was when it was the only one racing.
That’s why this year’s victory tasted to sweet. And what a victory it was. After 24 hours, 381 laps, and over 3200 miles of racing, it was a nail-biter to the end. The No.7 Toyota TR010 Hybrid of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Nyck de Vries crossed the finish a mere 10.9 seconds ahead of the second-place BMW, the fourth-closest win margin in Le Mans history and the tightest of the modern WEC era.
Not only that, but Toyota had qualified poorly, placing near the back of the LMH pack in 14th and 15th position on the grid. The two Toyotas clawed its way to the top and kept up a four-way battle with the BMW and Cadillac right until the checkered flag dropped, separated only by seconds. There was no cruising to the flag or gap management. It was a relentless dogfight up until the final moments.
Had BMW won it would have been its first victory since 1999, when the Toyota GT-One, which was favored to win, punctured a tire in the final hour. The No.8 Toyota TR010 driven by Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryō Hirakawa placed third.
As The Guardian reported, Kobayashi had tears in his eyes as he pulled his Toyota into the winner’s circle. Over the radio Kobayashi informed the team, “I need a beer.” Toyota has removed any asterisks or “‘yeah, but’s”from its championships, proving that its victories were not just flukes. Like Kobayashi’s drink, they’ve earned it.
Images courtesy of Toyota.
It was a very interesting race this year. I watched about 15 hours of it. Interesting strategy in play by Toyota all race long. The Cadillacs were very strong until a power steering issue took their lead car out of contention. Poor Ferrari, who were the winners the past three years seemed all at sea. And Porsche was nowhere to be seen, only two Porsches were entered, and they were in the LM GT3 class. The lowest number of Porsches ever entered since the their first Le Mans entry in 1951m when they entered one car.
Congratulations to Toyota for finally being the second Japanese manufacturer to win Le Mans! (only somewhat joking…)
I understand the naysayers to an extent, but you mention & link to the heartbreaks…it’s not like Toyota never had the pace in the days of the previous competition. 2016 is still painful. I want to say it was a fluke, but well, it is the 24 hours of Le Mans, not the 23 hours and 55 minutes of Le Mans. The point is though, they had plenty of deserving cars/teams, but Le Mans didn’t take a shine to them.
It’s also not their fault no one else stepped up in the intervening years. But, if Toyota would have been such easy competition – wouldn’t SOMEONE have jumped in to beat them and take the glory of overall Le Mans victory? I mean, because obviously Toyota wouldn’t have won if ANYONE else had just tried…or something?
“As soon as the heavyweights returned, Toyota no longer came out on top.” While this is a factual statement (other than debate over “heavyweights”), I think it’s somewhat misleading.
Toyota got pretty harsh BoP treatment the last few years, or they likely would have run off with at least a couple more wins. TOYOTA was the heavyweight when other teams joined/returned, and they were basically penalized to give the other teams motivation to stay and to entice more manufacturers to sign up.
Looking at the size of the field, I’d say it worked, but it was a poor way to thank Toyota for staying in the top level when no one else would, and absolutely played into the “ToYOTa cAn’T wIN aGAinsT cOMpetitION” narrative. (When I say repay, I don’t mean that Toyota should have been given a favorable BoP to repay them…but maybe just not have their legs broken.)
Of course, I am biased. All this said, I’m glad they have put the argument to bed & smothered it with a pillow.
You know I typed this stupid thing out like I still need to try to defend Toyota to the haters.
But as you said “Toyota has removed any asterisks or “‘yeah, but’s” from its championships, proving that its victories were not just flukes. Like Kobayashi’s drink, they’ve earned it.”
No reason for me to still be defensive.
A win is a win at Le Mans. You still have to finish the 24-hour long race. If a manufacturer or factory team couldn’t compete certain years, that’s their problem. I enjoyed the 1999 race where Toyota almost won overall (won GTP class) with the GT-One, which I consider one for the coolest prototypes to race at Le Mans. Really happy for Toyota’s 6th Le Mans win.
They said (say) the same nonsense about Mazda and the 787B. Euro guys tend to be elitist dorks.
Indeed. I’m really curious how Cadillac will do in F1. The Europeans DO NOT want them in their playground.
I’m glad it irritates them – hope they mop up, as unlikely as that seems right now. They did Andretti dirty!
I totally agree with you.